infection. welcome to nhk world "newsline". people in the solomon islands had another reminder of the dangers they face because of where they live. a major earthquake sent tsunami slamming into the chain. six people are confirmed dead and four injured. four others are missing. analysts with the u.s. geological survey said the earthquake hit at around lunch time on wednesday. the quake triggered tsunami that sparked warnings across the south pacific, observers with the pacific tsunami warning center reported a wave about 90

centimeters high reached the coast of the solomon islands. ngo workers say it washed away at least 100 houses. they add that the supply of electricity and water has been disrupted and they say some parts of the island have been flooded including the airport. nhk has learned chinese navy weapons radar incident took place more than 100 kilometers away from the disputed senkaku islands in the east china sea. chinese and japanese vessels were navigate ago way from the islands at the time. analysts say both sides may have been seeking to avoid escalating tensions around the islands. officials with japan's defense ministry say that june 30th, a chinese frigate locked weapons targeting on a destroyer. the two ships were reportedly 3 kilometers apart. a japanese helicopter from another destroyer is also believed to have been a targeted

by fire control radar from a different chinese frigate on january 19th. the ship was reportedly a few kilometers away. patrol ships of the japan coast guard are assigned to waters near the senkaku islands. china repeatedly sends its surveillance vessels into the area. japan's prime minister is calling what happened at sea regrettable. shinzo abe says this kind of action could trigger unexpected consequences. >> translator: it's deplorable that china carried out this one sided provocative action. just as our countries were working towards holding talks to improve our strained ties. >> abe said he'll urge chinese leaders to prevent this kind of thing from happening again. he added he wants to china and japan to have a my tell relationship. a spokesperson for china's foreign ministry says its officials didn't know about the

radar incident before japan launched a protest. >> translator: i saw the news coverage of the incident. but i don't know any details. please ask the relevant authorities. >> it's not known which level of the chinese government or military ordered the use of the weapons radar. chinese media have been covering the radar incident, but most out lets quoted reports by media in japan. among them the beijing news editors at the newspaper wrote about the incident in their wednesday edition. the communist party affiliated global times ran an article under the headline "japan aghast at china's radar lock on." it carried a photo of japanese defense minister. the story mostly cited japanese media reports and included comment from a chinese military expert who said the incident indicates the risk of armed conflict with japan. the experts said the dispute is

unlikely escalate. officials at the u.s. state department are voicing strong concern, they said incidents like the radar lock on increase the risk of a confrontation. >> actions such as this escalate tensions and increase the risk of an incident or a miscalculation. and they could undermine peace, stability and economic growth in this vital region. so we're concerned about it. >> nuland did not say whether the u.s. secretary of state has raised the issue with his counter part in beijing. john kerry spoke by phone on tuesday with chinese foreign minister. the incident happened just days after a warning from former secretary of state hillary clinton. clinton said the united states opposes any unilateral action. she urged both sides to take steps to manage disagreements through peaceful means. north korea has reinstated a

recently demoted senior military official in an apparent move to enhance the troops morale ahead of a third possible nuclear test. choe ryong hae was demoted one rank in december from vice marshall to general. he remained director of people's army. analysts said the reduction in rank of the close aide to kim jong-un was likely meant to strengthen discipline in the military. on tuesday choe and people's armed ministry meeting wearing one large star and general's four small stars. he rallied the troops said north korea will settle its confrontation with the united states once leader kim jong-un issues the order. north korea is reportedly preparing for a third nuclear test in the country's northeast. tokyo stocks rallied and

many asian markets saw gains. ron madison has been following the action and is here to explain today's action. >> you got to go way back to see the levels we saw today. about four years and four months. i came on news of the governor's resignation. the nikkei as you see there climbing very close to 4% today. ended at 11,463. now this is the highest closing since september 2008. that was two weeks after lehman brothers collapsed. investors are hoping for further monetary easing from his successor and sport related issues led the advance brought on by a weaker yen. the yen is weakening further and this is due to investors hopes for further measures under the next boj governor. the dollar topped 94 yen first time that's happened since may

2010. it has since lot of a bit at 93.67. some traders taking profits. in terms of euro yen it's at 126.84. turning to other asian stocks now most parkts did trade higher today. we had services data from europe and the u.s. that came out above market expectations today. that did support sentiment a bit. shanghai managed to gain its gaining streak. seoul was the exception. kospi down today, concerns about the south korean currency. european stocks largely mixed at this hour. we're seeing gains in london of about .4%. frankfurt dax is down a quarter of a pennsylvania and paris cac lower. a senior official of the international monetary fund has expressed a report for japan's economic policies but expressed a need for the country to take

steps to rein in fiscal health. the finance minister met visiting imf managing director david lipton here in tokyo. he briefed him on the government's policies. he explained about the recent joint statement between the government and central bank. that statement seat 2% inflation target. he also referred to a supplementary budget plan which has a stimulus worth $100 billion. finance ministry officials said he understood them and said they were necessary. the meeting came amid concerns voiced by germany and other countries opinion they are saying japan's policies could be intended to guide the yen lower. two major japanese automakers have revised their profits. mazda motors says it expects to post $480 million in operating profit up 80% when you calculate

it in yen from its previous estimate. mazda's president is hoping for fourth depreciation of the yen. subaru is also looking for a higher operating profit of more than $1.1 billion. that's a gain of 30% from its earlier projection. two other automakers, toyota and diahatsu increased their outlook. >> officials at a utility said they reached a broad agreement buying up 800,000 tons of shell gas every year. the 20 year contract would begin in 2017. tepco executives say they are in the final changes of negotiations with other

businesses and asked to buy 1.2 million tons of shale gas. using shale gas instead of conventional natural gas helps to cut overall fuel costs by $530 million a year. the rising costs of fuel for thermal powered generation have been weighing on the company's finances ever since the fukushima nuclear accident. a weaker yen is pushing up the price of imported fuel. tepco's fuel costs are likely to reach $30 billion this year. japanese businesses are searching for more investment opportunities overseas and eager to hire more foreign students. the unique career fair was held in tokyo. we have more.

>> reporter: 60 international students from often countries attended the job fair on wednesday. but these students were not there to get interviewed. they came to sell themselves to recruiters in japanese. the students were chosen by a job center to do a six minute presentation. >> translator: after the disaster occurred on march 11th other students left japan but i continued to stay and became a volunteer. i would like to work in japan to connect people with people. >> reporter: companies are interested in students that understand the japanese language and culture and naturally the customs of the countries where they come from. >> translator: i like japan very much. i want to do a job to introduce japan's techniques and services to other countries. >> reporter: sarah is from malaysia.

she's a sociology major. she wants to work for a japanese firm. >> i listen to what the company talks, listen to us. so i think through this event i can promote myself directly to the company. so i can have better chance. >> reporter: automakers and logistic companies were especially interested in talented students from southeast asian countries. firms are eyeing economic growth and an increase in the working population across the region. that's especially as labor costs are on the rise in china. >> translator: we need students that can manage our southeast asian businesses. they need to be able to communicate with our local staff. we need someone who understands both cultures. >> reporter: about one-third of the students at the presentation last year were offered jobs.

students this year are strongly hoping to find work at the event as well. all right. that is going to wrap it up for biz tonight. i'll hand it back now to gene. >> thanks for that, ron. >> bulgarian authorities say lebanese group hezbollah was behind a bus bombing that killed seven people last july. bulgaria's interior ministry announced the results of its investigation into the attack. the bombing killed israeli tourists and a bulgarian bus driver. more than 30 people were wounded. ministry officials said three people carried out the attack. they said one of the bombers had an australian passport. another had a canadian passport but investigators found financial lynches between attackers and hezbollah. investigators plan to ask lebanese authorities to cooperate as they continue their

inquiry. israel's leaders have blamed hezbollah since the attack. they have condemned iran for supporting the group. iran has denied involvement. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says the news confirms iran is backing a hezbollah terror campaign. >> hezbollah and iran are together building a worldwide terrorist network. they've attacked in a dozen countries. they are planning attacks in dozens more. and it's time that the international community branded hezbollah for the terrorist organization that they are. >> observers say israel wants to galvanize international opposition to hezbollah. south korea is freezing in record winter temperatures. people are turning up their heaters and increasing electricity use. that's causing serious power shortages. government is scrambling to solve the crisis.

we have more from seoul. >> reporter: people in seoul have been shivering since december. the average temperature for the month was minus 4 degrees, the coldest in 45 years. >> translator: the cold weather is making my commute difficult. >> reporter: the river which runs through central seoul has even partially frozen. the cold wave has reached a record high. nationally it's now at 95% of capacity. the nuclear reactors is dealing another blow. in november it was revealed quality guarantees for over 5,000 spots have been falsified.

the situation is so grave officials fear they have to turn off supply. they are trying to push through the crisis. in january officials held blackouts nationwide. this was to try and change people's mindset about energy. in seoul subway stops manually opened train doors. and passengers who got stuck in an elevator. traffic lights were turned off at intersections and police officers r direted traffic. a group appeared in a tv campaign calling on people to save energy.

officials have also introduced forcible measures. they require 6,000 companies mainly for consumers to reduce their power use by 10%. large buildings including department stores must set room temperatures below 20 degrees celsius. officials have formed what they call surveillance troops to go around checking stores. businesses failing to meet the rules are fined. institutions across the country are expected to set room temperatures at 18 degrees. 2 degrees lower. >> translator: it's cold. i wear lots of layers in order to endure it.

>> reporter: the executive branch should be a role model. at 11:00 the lights suddenly go off in offices and the staff disappear. in the darkness they head for the cafeteria to have a lunch break. in winter time power consumption peaks between 10:00 and noon. lunch time has been moved up by an hour to cut power usages during user peak. >> translator: some citizens don't know about the working time change so it affects our work to some extent. but i think saving power is a good thing. >> translator: we'll continue saving energy and hope to come up with better measures including using renewable energy.

>> reporter: the historic cold snap and power shortages have made south koreans more aware of the importance of energy saving by paying bitter cold price. the farmer from northeastern japan is putting down roots far from home. he survived the disaster two years ago. then he decided to rebuild his life no matter how far he had to go. nhk world has his story on today's ""road ahead"." >> reporter: australia. the sunny climate attracted people from far way. many are looking to start a new life. this is where this farmer is growing japanese rice in the paddy like they do in japan.

fukushima rise grown by fukushima native. he started farming here a year ago. he's already bringing in his third harvest. he has never shied from a challenge. back in his home town of iwaki he worked hard to revive the community. the 2011 earthquake left his home badly damage. then radiation spread and farmers had to stop growing rice. he didn't know what to live for any more. he wanted to keep farming. but didn't know how. then he found out about opportunities in australia. land for rent, land that might grow rice. >> translator: there are many skilled farmers in fukushima who lost their land and can no

longer grow rice. the climate is warm here so you can grow rice year round. >> reporter: his major challenge was growing rice the japanese way, one day he saw something unexpected in his paddy. >> translator: interestingly enough the eco system here create conditions like those found in japan's rice paddies. insects eat the algae and fire flies live in the paddy. i was so surprised to discover these. >> reporter: townsville is warm year round and has an abundant supply of water. he believes if key take advantage of the climate he can boost his harvest to four times a year. his hard work has already attracted the interest of australian farmers. sugar cain is a main crop in this region. there are hopes rice could become a specialty product.

>> now the issue for him is to go commercially so we can grow it. in the long run and i think we're looking probably five years down the track, there's opportunities for tries be produced as a complimentary crop to sugar cain. >> reporter: this may not be the only area to benefit. he's hoping to inspire old friends affected by the disaster. >> translator: i lost everything. but i started working again with only one hoe in my hand. i hope this will give other people strength and courage. if a regular guy like me can do this, you can do it too. so, just take that first step. >> reporter: growing shoots in foreign land, rice is growing again and sore the hopes of

fukushima farmer forced to leave behind. morning commuters in tokyo were affected by snowfall this morning. meteorologist robert speta is here with more on the situation on the ground and what's in the forecast. robert? >> yes, gene. we did see all this heavy snowfall. about seven centimeters fell just towards the north of tokyo as this storm system blew overhead. i'll show you some of these photos. this is accumulation on some of the cars. this is quite unusual to see this heavy snow. it's not unheard of, but it is pretty heavy snow for this time of year and we're seeing a lot of people getting out and about even in the tokyo metro area. about one centimeter in western tokyo. plenty to go around. a lot it changed over to rain so most of it did melt off after the storm system pushed off towards the east. plenty of moisture left over.

that's going to be fueling the next system pushing through here. it's not expected to move into the tokyo area but it will be moving across the sea of japan and really intensifying up here and bringing an abundant amount of snow and windy weather into hokkaido. you like the snowfall it adds to the festival atmosphere but those gusty winds will be kicking up, creating those white out conditions. it's unpleasant but not unwelcomed up here. now we'll see this cold air spilling behind this storm system. temperatures will start to cool off. even in tokyo a slight warm up on thursday. going into the weekend as all that cold air starts to come down temperatures will come back off here even into china you'll see temperatures cool down and that's going to interact with all this warm air down the south and the tropics, stationary boundary setting up over by

shanghai an chongqing. as far as tropics, though, northeast monsoon is dominating here keeping things on the quiet side temperatures still in the 30s. now let's take a look at the americas. into the pacific northwest here we have a storm system continuing to push moisture on shore. that's making for some heavy rainfall, wet snow mix, could accumulate. off to the east a storm system pushing across the gulf states. it's creating widespread fog across the gulf coast here. definitely anybody out on the highways, you want to slow down because it looks like widespread fog advisories in effect. even the same storm system will push off here towards the east by the weekend, create a nor'easter and bring heavy snow into new. for now, though, across the

great lakes we have an alberta clipper moving through here. this is creating about five to ten centimeters snowfall with it, also some gusty winds, temperatures remaining on the chilly side. chicago minus 1. toronto up to minus 5. across europe look at this big swirl on the satellite picture. what this is doing is bringing windy conditions, heavy snowfall to the scandinavia peninsula but pushing all that cold air out of the arctic to the south and that's creating some wet and unstable conditions in the mediterranean. some severe weather will be firing up in italy and greece. you see high within warnings and severe storm warnings in effect as these temperatures remain on the warm side. all that cold air coming from the north these will be going down to single digits in rome and athens. budapest, you'll be dropping below the freezing mark. 5 and 6 in london and paris.

that's a look at your weather. here's your extended forecast. we'll be back in 30 minutes with more news. i'm gene otani in tokyo.